"I'm not the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox…?"
Naruto stood rooted to the spot, staring up at the Third Hokage as if the words hadn't quite reached him yet. His mouth opened slightly, then closed again, confusion and disbelief twisting together in his chest.
"But everyone hates me," he said slowly, voice unsteady. "No one ever told me about my parents. And these whisker marks on my face…"
His fingers brushed his cheeks without thinking.
Mizuki's voice echoed mercilessly in his mind, every poisonous sentence still fresh, still sharp. Somewhere deep down, Naruto had already begun to accept it—accept that he really was the monster everyone feared.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed softly and rested a hand on Naruto's head, his palm warm and steady.
"That is because they do not know the truth," he said gently. "And that includes Mizuki."
Naruto's eyes trembled.
"Twelve years ago," Hiruzen continued, "the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked this village. To stop it, the Fourth Hokage sealed the beast inside a newborn child—using his own life as the price."
Naruto's breath caught.
"That child," Hiruzen said quietly, "was you."
The room fell silent.
"You are not the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox," Hiruzen said firmly. "You are its jinchūriki."
"I'm… not the Demon Fox…" Naruto whispered.
The words repeated themselves, gaining weight each time.
"I'm not… I'm not the Demon Fox!"
Tears suddenly spilled from his eyes, hot and uncontrollable. They streamed down his cheeks, dripping onto the floor as his shoulders shook.
But these were not tears of despair.
They were relieved.
The crushing pressure Mizuki had left behind—years of doubt, fear, and self-loathing—collapsed all at once. Naruto had been carrying it without even realizing how heavy it was.
Seeing him cry so openly, Hiruzen smiled faintly and waited. He didn't interrupt, didn't rush him. Only when Naruto's sobs slowly faded did he speak again.
"Naruto," he said, voice calm, "the suffering you endured was not meaningless."
Naruto sniffed, wiping his eyes clumsily.
"It was a trial," Hiruzen continued. "A trial meant to prepare you."
"Prepare me…?" Naruto asked hoarsely.
"To master the power sealed within you," Hiruzen said. "The power of the Nine-Tails."
Naruto froze.
"Master… it?" he repeated. "Why me? Why not someone else?"
Hiruzen looked at him with an expression that suggested he had expected the question all along.
"Because you had the aptitude," he replied. "And because the Fourth Hokage believed in you."
Naruto's heart skipped.
"The Fourth Hokage…?" he whispered.
"He believed," Hiruzen said, "that you would be able to control that power. That you would use it to protect the village instead of letting it harm others."
His voice softened.
"Just like he did."
Naruto's head snapped up.
"Just like the Fourth Hokage…?" His eyes shone brightly. "Then—then does that mean… if I master the Nine-Tails' power, I can become Hokage?"
For the briefest moment, Hiruzen's smile faltered.
Only for a moment.
"No one can see the future with certainty," he said evenly. "But Grandpa can tell you this—if you use that power to protect the village, then yes… the path to becoming Hokage will be open to you."
To Naruto, that was more than enough.
Any hesitation, any nuance, vanished under the weight of that hope.
"I'm going to become Hokage!" he shouted, laughing through the last of his tears. "I'll definitely become Hokage!"
Inside his chest, something settled.
Watching Naruto's excitement, Hiruzen finally allowed himself to relax. The worst outcome—the boy turning against the village—seemed unlikely.
Still, there was something he could not ignore.
He straightened slightly, his tone shifting.
"Naruto," he said, "there is still one thing you need to explain to me."
Naruto stiffened.
"When you fought Mizuki," Hiruzen continued, eyes sharpening, "something else took over. Something that was not you."
He studied Naruto closely.
"Tell me," he said. "What was it?"
Naruto's face went pale.
"T-that thing…?" he stammered.
For a moment, fear flashed across his expression—pure, unguarded panic, like a child caught hiding a dangerous secret.
Seeing that reaction, Hiruzen's heart sank.
So it really wasn't just the fox's chakra, he thought. Something else exists.
Inside Naruto's mind, chaos erupted.
"Lock! Lock!" Naruto shouted internally. "What do I do!?"
His thoughts spiraled.
"Should I tell him about you? If I do, will they lock us up? Will they think we're monsters?"
"What if they cut us open and experiment on us!?"
The fear came pouring out in a rush.
Before Naruto could spiral any further, a calm voice cut through his panic.
"It's fine," Lock said.
Naruto froze.
"…Huh?"
"You can't hide this forever," Lock continued evenly. "You already spoke earlier. You already acted. The Third Hokage isn't stupid."
Naruto hesitated.
"But—"
"Besides," Lock added, "we're not a threat right now. You're still the dominant personality. That's what matters."
There was a pause.
Then Lock spoke again.
"Tell him everything. And tell him this too—I can control a small portion of the Nine-Tails' power."
As those words settled, Lock acted.
Deep within the shared consciousness, he reached inward, toward the reservoir he had been carefully avoiding until now.
The blackened value he had accumulated burned away in an instant.
A seal loosened.
Power answered.
Naruto felt it immediately.
Something different stirred beneath his skin—not the wild, corrosive surge he'd felt before, but something heavier, denser, and frighteningly obedient.
"I… I get it," Naruto said quietly inside his mind. "With you saying that… I feel a lot safer."
He took a deep breath.
Then he looked back up at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"There is… another me," Naruto said honestly. "He was born from all the pain I couldn't handle."
Hiruzen's eyes widened slightly.
"He's very strong," Naruto continued. "And when I lose control… he can come out."
"But," Naruto added quickly, "he can't take over unless I let him. If I want the body back, I can take it."
Hiruzen stared at him.
"Another consciousness," he murmured. "Born from accumulated trauma…"
He looked almost stunned.
"And you're saying," he continued slowly, "that this other personality can also use a portion of the Nine-Tails' power… without being overtaken by it?"
Naruto nodded firmly.
"Yes. I can always take control back."
Hiruzen inhaled sharply.
"This is… extraordinary," he muttered.
After a moment, his expression shifted—from shock to something closer to fascination.
"May I meet him?" he asked carefully. "And may I see that power?"
Naruto hesitated for only a second.
Then he nodded.
"Okay."
The change was immediate.
Naruto's posture straightened.
The warmth in his eyes faded, replaced by something cold and assessing. The air around him seemed to tighten, as if the room itself were holding its breath.
"Nice to meet you," he said flatly. "Sarutobi Hiruzen."
His voice was the same, yet not.
"I am Lock," he continued. "Naruto's sub-personality."
Hiruzen's eyes sharpened.
"Lock…" he repeated. "A good name."
He tried to smile kindly. "You may call me Grandpa, just as Naruto does."
Lock didn't respond.
Instead, he raised one hand slightly.
"I'll show you," he said. "The power I've mastered."
Chakra erupted.
A pale red aura flooded outward, enveloping Lock's body like a living cloak. It didn't rage or lash out—it coiled, dense and heavy, pulsing with controlled violence.
From his lower back, a single tail formed—long, thick, and translucent red, swaying slowly through the air.
The room shook.
The pressure was suffocating.
This was not the berserk chakra Naruto had leaked before.
This was refined.
Directed.
Alive.
"This," Lock said calmly, eyes burning, "is the Nine-Tails' power as I can currently use it."
The killing intent was restrained—but unmistakable.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's breath caught in his throat.
Not because of the chakra itself.
But because of how perfectly it was being controlled.
---
Support: patreon.com/Narrator_San